Eric Esch

Yes, I’m talking about former heavyweight boxing champion, former co-star of Rocky V, and former contractor of HIV Tommy Morrison. What’s he doing opening his mouth?

We have to go back and remember Chuck Liddell’s original comment towards Morrison during his infamous interview with Good Morning Texas where Liddell was out of it after taking medicine. When asked who he would want to fight, Liddell responded with Morrison, obviously as a joke. Well it seems that Tommy boy isn’t taking it that way…

Similar to his boxing counterparts in the form of Kermit Cintron, Floyd Mayweather Jr, as well as HBO announcer Jim Lampley, Morrison has gone ahead and defended his sport against those who compete in MMA. He’s also expressed his interest in fighting Liddell and has even said that he plans to call him out at the UFC 71 press conference, which is scheduled for tomorrow by the way.

Let’s break down Morrison’s comments…

Morrison stated that he will be making his MMA debut on June 9th in Arizona against John Stover. The fight will use modified MMA rules where neither fighter is permitted to take the fight nor continue it on the ground. He also talked about his future plans which include a victory over Stover, another boxing match under the Top Rank banner, and then a “mega PPV fight against Liddell in Japan”...

“This guy’s like 350 pounds, so no, I’m not going to the ground. I saw a tape of him the other day, and he’s a big son of a bitch but he’s awkward and slow. But I’m just doing it to help Peter McKinn out, pick up a little money, and sharpen my skills. Then, 20 days later I’ll be back on a Top Rank card at the same place. This is a one time thing. I’m making money and sharpening my skills and it could possibly lead to a mega pay per view fight with Chuck Liddell in Japan down the line. I’ll go over there, make about ten million bucks, slap him out in three rounds…easiest ten million dollars you can make in your life.”

First off, I hope that Morrison is aware that he’s making himself look bad by having the rules modified in order to save himself. Morrison also better hope that the fight doesn’t turn out to be a complete war on the feet or else he won’t be fighting 20 days later like he expects.

Why would you want to fight Liddell over in Japan Tommy? There’s no reason to go over there when it’s obvious you would make the most money right here in the US. Are you afraid of testing positive since a fight against Liddell would most likely be held in Las Vegas or California, not Texas where testing is so lenient.

Here’s my favorite part of Morrison’s rant. According to Morrison’s logic, Butterbean is destroying everyone in the UFC:

“The thing people don’t understand is these UFC guys, if they’re going against another UFC guy, they’re probably pretty good, but a skilled boxer…Butterbean is putting guys in the f*cking hospital. And Butterbean in the boxing world is below mediocre, but in UFC he’s mowing through guys like a knife through hot butter. And (Ray) Mercer is making the transition, Mayweather’s talked about it, and I’m going to do it. Once fighters (boxers) start planting these f*ckers, that sport will go down the tubes in six months. You wait. It’s gonna happen, and we’re going to cash in on it before it happens and ride the waves and expose them.”

First off Tommy, it doesn’t pay to be ignorant. If you are going to try and intelligently discuss a topic, you should try and do a little research on it before running your mouth. Eric Esch has never fought in the UFC and most likely never will because of the 265 lb limit in the organization’s heavyweight division. Go check Butterbean’s record and fight card. He’s 10-3 but go ahead and look at who he’s fought. All of his losses have come against decent fighters. All of his wins with the exception of James Thompson and Cabbage Correira have come against former pro wrestlers, 400 pounders, and cans.

But the best part of this whole thing is Morrison’s plan to attend the UFC 71 pre-event press conference and call out Liddell. The press conference is actually scheduled to be held tomorrow so it should be interesting to hear about what happens.

“I’ll go back and forth between boxing and mixed martial arts if I have to, there’s possibly a lot of money to be made there. Maybe build something up with Chuck Liddell, I’m going to show up at his press conference in Vegas and I’m going to pop off to him and get some sh*t going.”

Two things are going to happen - Morrison isn’t even going to be allowed to attend the conference or he will be let in and then laughed at once he tries to start something with Liddell. Now I would continue with this rant but I’m afraid that Morrison is going to pay me a visit at my house for saying bad things about him. Hysterical…

As for this whole boxing vs MMA thing, here’s the deal. If you take a boxer and have him fight under MMA rules, he will most likely lose. If you take a mixed martial artist and put him in a ring with a pro boxer, he will most likely lose. It’s as simple as that…

- UFC veterans Wes “The Project” Sims and David Loiseau will appear on the upcoming Art of War 2 show May 11th in Austin, Texas.

- In a recent interview with TATAME, Pedro Rizzo, told the site that his next fight could be in June against Aleksander Emelianenko.

- Tito Ortiz was a no show yesterday for the weigh-ins for his bout with UFC president Dana White. White was on hand for the weigh-ins as he tipped the scales at 196 lbs. Once again the fight has been called off and this time the NSAC was unhappy with Ortiz as he wasted their staff’s time.

- Last night fans were given the opportunity to witness the first Zuffa-ran World Extreme Cagefighting show. McCullough and Faber reigned victorious in their respective bouts earning their WEC titles. Here are the full results…

Eric “Butterbean” Esch and Mark Hunt will no longer be engaging in a mixed martial arts bout on the upcoming October 21st PRIDE ‘The Real Deal’ card. The bout has been changed from what was originally expected to be an MMA fight to a boxing bout.

Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer decided that he would not allow the two to battle in an MMA bout due to the mismatch in the quality of opponents each fighter has faced.

“The difference in quality between the opponents they’ve faced and opponents they’ve beaten, as well as the fact that many of Butterbean’s MMA fights were under special rules,” Kizer remarked.

It’s interesting to note that because the event is taking place in Nevada, the rules will be similar to those that the UFC uses with a couple of changes. The fight will obviously take place in a ring rather than the UFC’s famed octagon. As it pertains to striking, there will be no elbows to the head permitted while on the ground. Kicking or kneeing of a downed opponent will be illegal as well despite that it is usually allowed in Pride events.

No shoes or Gi’s are allowed to be worn. The fights will be three five-minutes rounds instead of Pride’s usual one ten minute round followed by two five-minute rounds. The event will be four hours long and will be broadcast on PPV and the web.

Even more interesting then those announcements is the fact that Sakakibara was willing to talk about Silva-Liddell and the current status of the possible matchup. ..

“Speaking on behalf of Pride, we are ready anytime. Also, Wanderlei is ready. We just need the doctor’s confirmation regarding his injury from last week. We are still waiting for the UFC’s response. Mirko even said that if Wanderlei is not ready to fight in November, he would fight in his place. In some interviews, Mr. Dana White stated that this fight won’t happen. However, speaking from Pride’s side, we are ready.”

Hey, that’s not what Dana said!

I really don’t know which side to believe. I want to side with Dana and the UFC seeing how Pride has screwed over other promotions before by pulling crap like this whole saga. I wonder what he will have to say about this.

But if what Dana said at UFC 61 is true - They were supposed to have Wanderlei for three fights - Why don’t they have Wanderlei face someone else, like Babalu or Forrest for example. This way Tito can get his title shot and providing Chuck and Wanderlei both win, they can meet after that.

Barnett was last seen in the ring earlier this month in the Open Weight Grand Prix where he lost to Mirko Cro Cop in the finals after he defeated Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira earlier in the evening. Pawel Nastula is coming off of a loss to “Cyborg” at PRIDE - Final Conflict Absolute.

Heavy handed strikers Eric Esch and Mark Hunt will face off in what should prove to be a slugfest. I doubt this fight will hit the canvas.